A PHONEMIC CORRESPONDENCES AND LEXICAL RELATEDNESS BETWEEN BAHASA INDONESIA AND CEBUANO

Abstract

Using a historical-comparative linguistic approach, this study examines lexical relatedness and systematic
phonemic correspondences between Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of Indonesia, and Cebuano,
one of the most widely spoken Philippine regional languages, with particular attention to their relevance
for Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing (BIPA) in the Philippines. The study used an expanded Swadeshbased
dataset of 221 core vocabulary items. Bahasa Indonesia forms were taken from the Kamus Besar
Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI VI), while Cebuano forms were taken from Wolff’s A Dictionary of Cebuano
Visayan and supplemented by native-speaker consultation. Cognates were identified by cross-referencing
the forms with Proto-Austronesian reconstructions and excluding confirmed loanwords. The analysis
combined lexicostatistical calculation and qualitative phonemic correspondence analysis. A total of 81
cognate pairs were identified, producing a lexical similarity score of 36.65%. Seven systematic
correspondences were found, including initial and final /h/ elision, vowel raising patterns, and
correspondences involving /r/ and /j/. These findings support the shared Austronesian heritage of Bahasa
Indonesia and Cebuano while also showing distinct phonological developments in each language. The study
enriches Indonesian-Philippine comparative linguistics and provides an empirical basis for developing
linguistically informed BIPA materials for Cebuano-speaking learners.